


Artistic Merit

by Lenni51074



Series: Coffee Shop AU's [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Barista Steve Rogers, Coffee Shops, Coffee art fails, F/M, Nervous Steve Rogers, coffee shop AU, latte art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 20:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20918123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenni51074/pseuds/Lenni51074
Summary: Steve is a barista who makes great latte art. Except when it comes to your orders.





	Artistic Merit

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the following Tumblr prompt from @nahterpie:  
“I make killer latte art, except on your drink because you’re kind of gorgeous and you’re watching me make it and oh god my hand always shakes and it looks awful. I’m usually good at this, I swear!”

“Come on, Y/N,” your best friend insisted. “You have _got_ to try this new coffee shop! The barista does the most amazing latte art on all of the drinks. Plus, he’s super hot.”

“Oh my God, Kylie, is that all you think about? Coffee and hot guys?”

“Of course not. I also think about winning enormous sums of money so I can buy my own island.” She grinned at you, knowing that you would give in eventually. You had never been able to say no to her.  
  
“Fine. I’ll go check it out. But the coffee had better be worth all this fuss.”  
  
“Trust me, it’s amazing,” she assured you as she linked her arm with yours. 

**************************************

Well, Kylie had not been lying when she said that her barista was incredibly hot. You thought that the tall, blue-eyed blond behind the counter might just have been the most attractive man you had ever laid eyes on. Six foot two, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and pecs that looked like they were made to use as pillows. Plus, a dazzling smile that showed off brilliant white teeth – had the man ever been to a dentist? – and the bluest eyes framed by disgustingly long eyelashes and frankly, you decided that you might just believe in love at first sight.

You ordered your coffee in a daze, almost too mesmerised by the gorgeous specimen in front of you – Steve, his nametag proudly announced – to even speak, and therefore failed to notice the furious blush which stained his cheeks as he took your order. Kylie grinned to herself, noting that the two of you seemed instantly smitten with one another.

After what felt like an eternity of mentally lusting after the man making your coffee, your name was called and you sat at the table that your friend had secured for the two of you.

“Told you he was hot,” Kylie said. “And isn’t his latte art just to die for?” She waved to her coffee cup proudly, and you admired the beautiful scrollwork adorning the froth.

You frowned at your own coffee as you compared your best friend’s beautiful creation to your sad offering.

“Um, yeah, sure. It’s great.”

The taste of the coffee more than made up for the bad art adorning it. It was quite possibly the most delicious coffee you’d ever had. And staring wistfully at the barista just made it taste even better.

************************************** 

“Oh my God, Kylie, this is the best coffee shop ever!” Ellie gushed, immediately taking a photo of the group’s drinks for her Instagram page.

“Yeah, and the guy making them is absolutely gorgeous!” Abby swooned. Kylie and Jen nodded enthusiastically, staring appreciatively at Steve’s biceps as he handed you your drink.

“Let me see your drink, Y/N!” Ellie said. “I need a pic for my page.”

“Um…” You gesture to your less than spectacular looking latte. “Not sure this is really Insta-worthy. Unless you use hashtag ‘coffee fail’ under it.”

Jen giggled. “At least it’s a smile! It’s kind of cute, in a kindergarten sort of way.” 

“I guess he just doesn’t like me as much as the rest of you. Kylie always gets these beautiful creations, and I get something that looks like my three-year-old nephew drew it.”

Kylie tutted with mock sympathy. “Maybe he just doesn’t think any amount of art will ever compare to the beauty that is you.”

You threw several sugar packets at her as your friends laughed, your mock indignation completely undermined by the fact that you were grinning just as widely as the others at her comment.

None of you noticed the wistful expression on Steve’s face as he stared in your direction.

**************************************

“Morning, Y/N. Here’s your usual,” Steve said, handing your latte to you just as you reached the counter.

You’d been attending his coffee shop every day for weeks now, even without your friend, and he found himself looking forward to seeing your smile as you waltzed up to place your order every morning. He’d memorised it after your second visit – a vanilla latte with almond milk – and always started making it as soon as you walked in so that you didn’t need to order it.

You took it with a grateful smile, and his own smile widened in response. “Thanks, Steve.”  
  
You sat down at your usual table before you grinned to yourself as you stared down at your coffee.

Clearly he wasn’t even trying this morning.

It had become a bit of a joke amongst your circle of friends. Every morning, you posted a pic of that day’s #coffeefail, and it was becoming quite popular on your Instagram page. A lot of your friends starting attending Steve’s coffee shop just to see if their own coffee art would be as bad, but they were always slightly disappointed that he actually appeared to put a decent amount of effort into their drinks. It was only you that had the hilariously bad attempts.

Your friends decided that this obviously meant that you were Steve’s favourite customer.

**************************************

Today’s offering caused you to snort with laughter. You carefully walked back to the counter, taking care not to spill your drink as you attempted to smother your giggles. “Hey, Steve…”  
  
“Y/N. Is something wrong with your drink?” Steve asked, a frown on his handsome face and concern in his voice.

“Well, it’s just that… um… well, your artistic offering today is a little bit, um…” You giggled at the panicked expression on Steve’s face. “I’m just having a bit of trouble figuring out exactly what it means.”

Steve looked like he wanted to sink into the floor.

“Clearly, this is not what you actually intended to draw for me, is it?”  
  
“No,” came the whispered reply.

“Um, do you mind if I ask what this was _meant_ to be?”  
  
The barista’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “The moon.”

“Huh.” You quirked an eyebrow. “I just thought, you know, what with the mumbled ‘Hi’ and the rather… phallic… nature of the picture, that you were just really, really happy to see me.”  
  
You hadn’t thought a person could blush fifty shades of red, and yet the handsome specimen before you did exactly that. You grinned as you continued, “I guess I should just be grateful that it’s not Uranus, huh?”  
  
Those bright blue eyes stared at you in horror for a heartbeat, before a huge laugh erupted from him. The man bent over double, clutching at his left pec, as he wheezed with laughter.

“Oh, God, Y/N,” he wheezed. “I thought you were going to yell at me for giving you a dick pic in your morning coffee.”  
  
Your grin widened. “Nah. It’s actually pretty funny. My friends all find it hilarious that they get these gorgeous masterpieces on their coffees, and yet you revert to drawing like a toddler when it comes to me.”  
  
Steve’s blush deepened. “I’m actually a pretty decent artist, I swear! It’s just that, with you…” 

“With me, what?”  
  
You found yourself mesmerised as those fanfiction blue eyes stared back into yours. “It’s just that I think you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, and you make me really nervous and so my hand shakes so much that I can’t actually draw what I want to when I make your drink. I want it to be perfect for you and it just always ends up being a complete disaster. I’m sorry.”  
  
“No need to apologise. You’re just lucky that your coffee tastes so good. Clearly I’m not coming back for your artistic merit.” Something that Steve said finally registered, and you blinked in astonishment. “Wait, did you say that you think I’m pretty?”

Steve nodded vigorously. “Absolutely gorgeous. I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of a way to ask you out without looking like an absolute idiot.”

“Oh.” You stared at him for a moment, before reaching over the counter and grabbing a coffee lid and a Sharpie. You scribbled something down and handed it to him. “Why don’t you call me sometime? Maybe we can catch a movie or something. Or check out the art gallery and see what _decent_ art looks like.”  
  
Steve laughed. “Art gallery sounds great. Maybe I’ll learn something.”  
  
“Maybe you will,” you smiled, before grabbing your coffee and heading back to your table. 

**************************************

After your date that weekend, Steve’s artwork on your morning coffee improved enormously.

Maybe he really did learn something after all.


End file.
